this case again. where pakistan's new prime minister emraan khan insists he would not allow what he calls religious hardliners to cripple the country damage property and fight with police this government has taken a stand and i hope it's just sort of. and it takes on and then takes effective measures to deal with these miscreants and restores laws because people of pakistan who are peace loving they are really fed up with these people who abuse the lesion for their own small neural net maybe a sense now it seems the prime minister has exceeded their decision by the ultra conservative group that he can lead. to call off a street protest for d.d. being struck with the government. raided that signals long term reform of pakistan's blasphemy law lords or just a short lived compromise to restore order. islamabad

still to come here on a. trunk is as the prime minister accuses his rival of buying support in parliament head of a confidence vote next week why immigration may not be such a bad thing and the arrival of venezuelan immigrants could help to generate growth for colombia. we. hello there is tending cooler for some of us in australia now so thanks to this weather system here a cold front of it certainly living up to its name for melbourne temperatures dropped five degrees in just eight minutes so real change for us the system is now working its way over sydney so sydney will see a maximum on saturday of thirty two degrees but as we head into sunday will just be

a twenty five as that system eases another one begins to develop so do expect more in the way of cool weather as we head through the next few days as we head across towards new zealand you can see that system over the southeastern parts of australia is also affecting us and it's making things pretty stormy very wet very windy for many of us particularly across the south island and for the southern parts of the north island so pretty stormy then as we head through the day on saturday and on sunday things will start to calm down so the winds will begin to ease and the rain will also ease as well up towards the northern parts of asia and we've cold weather working its way towards us it's all thanks to this weather system here is that pushes its way south as it's bringing in some cooler weather so the temperatures in beijing will be dropping just fourteen as a maximum on sunday and just to the north of us expect some snow for japan though largely fired enjoys just a little bit of rain there in the far south east corner as we head into sunday.

on counting the cost the usa still the largest on regulated gun market in the developed world who pays it brags it goes wrong plus the seychelles leads the way in eco finance with the world's first blue ball. counting the cost and i'll just lay it out. i'm reminded of our current top stories here on turkish president rage

a time when has suggested the order to kill the journalist. came from the highest level of the. writing in the washington post he said he didn't think it was a saudi king solomon who called the head. is already taking a very big hit after the us announced it was reimposing all sanctions on iran that had been lifted on the twenty fifteen. protests have been called off in pakistan after the government came to an agreement with conservative muslim groups they were angry over the acquittal of a christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy. prime minister is accusing his replacement of attempting to buy support ahead of an expected vote of confidence next week ronna would told al jazeera that he still holds the majority in parliament and his government should never have been dissolved by his smith obtained this exclusive interview. for the past week run

a wickramasinghe has refused to leave the prime minister's official residence here in the capital it's become a symbol of legitimacy tells me after being fired by the president what critics are calling a constitutional thirty three london democracy in the last presidential election. we came forward on the basis that parliament is supreme that the president must act according to the riches of parliament the nineteen the amendment to the constitution was drafted on that basis know what. the president is trying to pose the present my for a policy. the rajapaksa as the new prime minister last friday. rajapaksa was president for two terms and scrapped term limits twenty four teen to try and stay in power but then lost the election he called a year later rajapaksa says he's got enough support in parliament to confirm his position but m.p.'s can't vote because

presidents are saying or a suspended parliament why the delay you think in recalling parliament where they haven't the numbers where the number because of parliament initially thought you think if you go all of them with you we have the numbers here. with we hear a lot of talk about persuading m.p.'s to join rajapaksa side how might they be persuaded what are you what are you hearing about what's going on there are funding their ministry ships and sometimes money the speaker has warned of the risk of a bloodbath if this is allowed to continue do you share those views of the speaker that there can be an appeal because people are getting the two granted by the reward for parliament democracy we why we are quite a different set up in our lives than we find even worth two thousand fourteen. defending a principle and the fact that the made during the war. in two thousand and fifteen

to a poor democracy and if you lead them down their gloves to be a week from a single says it's that desire to uphold democracy that's brought him support from a wide a section of society than just his traditional support base when parliament is recalled prime minister wickramasinghe or says he'll leave his official residence here at temple trees to go and vote until then he's staying put. but it's with al jazeera columbus. well there's just four days to go to the u.s. midterm elections which are being seen as an important test of president trump's rule both trump and his predecessor barack obama have been busy on the campaign trail rallying vote is speaking in miami florida keys swing state obama said the future of the country was at stake america is at a crossroads. the health care of millions is on the about.

making sure the working families get a fair shake is all about. but maybe most of all the character of our country is on the ballot. in the casing weeks of this election we're seeing repeated attempts to divide us. with rhetoric. designed to make us angry and make us fearful. meanwhile trump has been speaking at a rally in west virginia telling the crowds that the u.s. economy has prospered greatly on the his presidency. this election will decide whether we build on the extraordinary prosperity that we've been least nobody can believe what's happened or whether we let the radical democrats take control of congress and take a giant wrecking ball to our economy into our future. america now has the best the army and the history of our country and we want to keep that.

the arrival of more than one million venezuelan migrants in colombia could generate growth for the country that's according to the world bank which has released a report on the impact of migration from venezuela millions of venezuelans have been forced from their country and made growing shortages of third medicine and basic services alison around here has more from on the colombia venezuela order. the world bank calls it an unprecedented exodus in latin america one more akin to a full blown refugee crisis than people searching for a better life it's one conclusion of a report by the international financial institutions to assess the impact that the venezuelan exodus is having in neighboring colombia the speed and number of migrants escaping the country coupled with their vulnerable condition makes the venezuelan crisis one of the world's worst yet many believe it's not getting enough

attention. people go crazy over the caribbean and central americans entering mexico trying to reach the u.s. five maybe six there's microscope that so many we get every four days but i'm talking about the scene for the french. runs a shelter and services for migrants in the border city of. hundreds of minutes wayland sign up for assistance bailey they receive meals for fifteen days and the thirty dollars bonus for three months. of the roosters resisted at the end of three months or in the same desperate conditions as they were before hungry lacking a roof in need of medical attention jobs but we can't remove the world bank says the crisis this year alone has already cost colombia one point two billion dollars . the report praises columbia's open arms policy and its efforts to register the new arrivals to cope with the emergency yet few managed to find proper jobs. there

she bellows been here for eight months with her husband and children there selling on the streets i am aware how my husband and i are trying to get hired but it's difficult because we are immigrants foreigners and we are here illegally but there's a silver lining in the report the world bank says that in the long term the arrival of so many young migrants could be beneficial for the colombian economy if local authorities act fast. aging and needs more young workers legalising the new arrivals in creating jobs to need to use could reap benefits in coming years the government says it agrees with the suggestions but implementing them requires money they don't have it we're not going to push when no government is making a huge effort in the middle of major fiscal restrictions with the international community to understand what's happening and why does a hand. international donors have promised one hundred thirty million dollars for

colombia only thirteen million has arrived so far with the crisis expected to continue in likely getting worse the entire continent this threatened with the consequences alison the beauty. the million residents of mexico city are looking forward to having their water supply was stored on saturday after a three day enforced drive authorities turned off the supplies so they could carry out major maintenance work one of the world's largest pumping systems bringing water to a city that's more than two thousand meters above sea level manuel appollo has more . authorities say that as many as three million of mexico city's eight million residents have already been impacted by water cuts the city's water system director has urged residents who still have water to use it sparingly he said quote take extreme care of the water this means no washing clothes this means taking baths with small buckets and no washing dishes in the sink a lot of the public schools here in mexico city have also shut down for the

duration of these water cuts giving families an opportunity to leave town some of the wealthier parts of the city have their own private cisterns but we're talking about upscale restaurants upscale hotels and at many of the shopping malls a lot of the the businesses in the city have shut down for the duration of these water cuts and it could be until november eighth that full service is restored but water shortages are not uncommon in mexico authorities have been preparing for this for several weeks now setting up large tankers in strategic parts of the city filling up cisterns with possible water in the event of an emergency but again the the water table underneath mexico city has been exploited for many many years so this is not a new problem for authorities in fact it's one of the reasons that many of the historic buildings in mexico city are sinking by an average of about twenty centimeters every year so this maintenance being done is very important it's believed that as much as forty percent of possible water is lost through leaks in these faulty pipes so this is a much anticipated maintenance project by the city of mexico city. saturday led

coalition to launch new attacks in yemen it's begun an operation to retake the push city of her day that which is currently under the control of who to have bills coalitions and thousands of troops to the area and this really well out here on friday it also attacked an air base near some international airport u.n. secretary general antonio tera says a cease fire last few means to avoid an imminent catastrophe. the u.n. and our partners some already feeding eight million people in yemen we don't urge infection up to fourteen million people. fully healthy the population would be out of it three scheme the coming months to avert imminent catastrophe several steps are urgently required first violence must stop everywhere. with an immediate all to round critical infrastructure and densely populated areas

and they welcomed a strong constructive engagement from many member states in recent days joining their voices to the un's repeated appeals for the suspension of those three beauties and supporting my special envoys efforts egypt's president has promised to punish those responsible for a gun attack on a bus carrying coptic christians instant took place near the town of netanya and the seven people have been killed and several of those injured no one has claimed responsibility for that attack. russia and china are being blamed for blocking international efforts to create the world's largest marine reserve in antarctica the weddell sea is thought to be home to thousands of undiscovered species but twenty four countries in the antarctic commission to conserve marine life couldn't agree on making it a no go zone for fishing mining in drilling and utah has more from. the proposal was to create another marine park in antarctica this time five times the size of germany an area of pristine ocean protected from fishing mining

drilling almost all human activity. the way to hell c. is an icy wilderness and one of the world's last marine protection would have kept it that way but in hobart delegations from twenty four different countries with an interest in him talked again as well as the european union which led the pot proposal needed to reach consensus where exactly where the parks boundaries be would any fishing be allowed how reliable is the science supporting the need for complete protection how many decades with the protection lost for they couldn't agree after two weeks of talking behind closed doors the head of india's delegation revealed no consensus had been reached. and they wanted to understand that understanding is not just unfortunately standing is not that much in twenty sixteen the same delegates in the same building were able

to reach agreement to create another marine park and talk to. that one covering the rossi was supposed to create momentum for more but an attempt to create one in east antarctica last year failed the failure on friday to create one in the world del see the sense of gloom for conservationists and of course extremely disappointed that this meeting was unable to reach consensus it's been a campaign that's really engage people and people want to see and talk to give or take it and to see it failing at this meeting is of course very disappointing delegates meet in hobart every year there will be more chances to create marine parks in future but every year that passes means what is ultimately protected will be a little less persisting. in the end i'm told it was a disagreement about the quality of the science behind the need for a new marine protected areas that led to the lack of consensus with two countries china and russia refusing to sign up now in the past those same two countries have

come around to proposals that in previous years they'd opposed but only after those proposals have been signed off by the highest level of politics in those countries the president's the hope is that in time the same can happen with this proposal and to toss out a zero program australia we invite that much more on our website the address as usual stepney w dot al-jazeera dot com. a reminder of our top stories here on al-jazeera turkey's president has suggested the order to kill saudi journalist jamal khashoggi came from the highest level of the society government it's been one month since the journalist was murdered in the kingdom's consulate in istanbul his body still hasn't been recovered writing in the washington post reject tire bardon said he didn't think it was sighted kingstown when he called to him alan fischer has more though from assembles he does not put

this in diplomatic language he is taking a fool aim so dear a.b. he said there are outstanding questions that still has to answer where is the body where is the local cooperator is the saudis call them collaborator in president one's words who helped dispose of the body and who gave the order now he says that he doesn't believe for one minute that king solomon the king in saudi arabia ordered the hit as he calls it but he doesn't specifically mention crown prince mohammed bin some of the many people believe that is where this trail ends. sanctions are coming that's the warning from donald trump after the u.s. announced it was re-imposing all measures on iran that have been lifted under the twenty fifteen nuclear deal eight countries including turkey will be allowed to keep importing it waiting or when the sanctions are imposed plus many protests in pakistan have been called off after three days of violence of the government coming to a compromise agreement with conservative muslim groups last protests have been taking

place across pakistan since wednesday the supreme court overturned the death sentence of a christian woman accused of insulting islam as part of the deal the woman mother of five assy a baby will not be allowed to leave the country as have been planned sure long as i was to prime minister is accusing his replacement of attempting to buy support in parliament ahead of an expected vote of confidence next week rana what crime scene has told her that he still holds the majority in parliament and his government should never have been dissolved. the saudi led coalition has launched new attacks in yemen it's the government operation to retake the port city of hold data which is currently under the control of hutu rebels coalition sense and that i was of troops to the area this week early on friday it also is headed to the air base near some international airport you are very firmly out today those are current top

stories will just stay with us counting the cost is coming up next see you very soon but by. we understand the different scenes. and the similarities of cultures across the world so no matter how you take it al-jazeera will bring you the news and current affairs that matter to you al-jazeera. hello i'm sam is a band this is counting the cost on al-jazeera the weekly look at the world of business and economics this week why the united states continues to weaponize and what impact that is having outside its borders. also this week breaks it budget the cost of a disorderly u.k. exit from the european union plus there's no question it is the right thing to do.

walking out on google thousands of workers around the world protests declaring time is up on sexual harassment. it's a long lived and this stablished industry that likely won't be going anywhere anytime soon we're counting the cost this week of the weaponization of america the latest atrocity on october the twenty seventh eleven people were killed when a heavily armed gunman opened fire at a baby naming ceremony at a synagogue in pittsburgh police said he used a legally purchased assault rifle and three handguns in a previous investigation into this industry we noted how gun manufacturers themselves rarely give interviews dozens of companies have ended partnerships with the national rifle association or n.r.a. the pro gun lobby by the u.s. president donald trump immediately directed attention to the lack of an armed guard

at the synagogue claiming the shooting has little to do with the country's gun laws this indicate they have no desire to. they might have been able to stop him from reading it. because he would write it down they would put a stop to it barry webber was one of those who survive the synagogue shooting i think the n.r.a. has so much political clout that there is no way in the world our poll politicians have the strength. to take them out of the equation who needs an a r fifteen who needs a semiautomatic weapon with a good for maybe target practice but that's our the us gun industry is estimated to be worth fifty one billion dollars so guns are big business the lack

of regulation is key to the industry's profitability military style weapons are a consumer product in the us a background check is conducted only in store purchases part of the reason for the lack of gun control is the national rifle association it says it speaks for american gun owners who have a constitutional right to bear arms then there's the u.s.a.'s role in the global weapons trade the u.s. buys and sells almost as much weaponry as the rest of the world combined so what happens in the u.s. has global impact well joining me now via skype from london is andrew feinstein andrew is the executive director of corruption watch the author of shadow world inside the global arms trade good to have you with us just the put things into perspective at the start how profitable is the u.s. guns industry compared to others we need to start by saying that the united states

produces some with the trees thirty five and forty percent of all weaponry in the world so this is an industry that is worth tens of billions of dollars to the united states the industry is small and light weapons. machine guns rifles cetera is a small a component of that globally worth about eight billion dollars so the u.s. probably around four billion dollars there have been repeated public outcry that gainst gun violence the industry has managed in the u.s. to successfully insulate itself against any sort of backlash hasn't how. oh absolutely i think the national rifle association the main gun lobby group in the united states of america has been incredibly successful in creating a public climate that is pro-gun but far more important than that it has effectively pulled the support of the politicians who would need to regulate the

industry and unfortunately that flow of money to those politicians which enables them to stay in power because america is often described as the best democracy money can buy or as i describe the weapons procurement business in the united states as a form of illegal bribery those politicians are effectively insulated from public opinion now there is a possibility in the imminent american elections that we could for the first time in many decades start to see a show the slight shift in that we're seeing a number of. public groups really get into groups like. moms demand gun control for instance who are trying to energize voters not to vote for any candidate who is not critical of the gun lobby and doesn't commit

to much greater regulation of guns in the united states that's a problem the discussion a little bit how does that situation impact the economies of other countries think countries close to the u.s. like mexico for example it has a massive impact in the world on two levels really first of all it creates this global environment of militarism so again remembering that the united states is involved in more conflicts than been any other country on the planet in fact. the united states government employs more people to run one aircraft carrier than it has diplomats across the entire world and the united states today has eleven and had craft carriers how that affects america's immediate neighbors is even more insidious so a country like mexico that has seven law and order problems relating to the drugs trade and relating to gun running the vast majority of those guns in mexico used by

militias used by criminals both organized and informal come from the united states of america so i'm not trying to talk about building a wall between the united states and mexico what he doesn't seem to realize is that there is an enormous a very profitable flow of guns into mexico from the u.s. that he probably wouldn't want to stop so you have the flow of guns into mexico and in return you have a flow of drugs and other illicit activities into the united states of america so what this is doing is it's both destabilizing those neighboring countries like mexico where it's giving criminal groups enormous power and fire power but at the same time attempting a devastating impact in the united states itself how do you respond those who who would criticize that line and say you're mumbling two separate things the innocent and the licit trade in guns i've been i've been studying the

trade in arms for seventeen years. the boundaries the borders between the legal and the it illegal are incredibly fast so our governments and the weapons makers the celt would have us believe that there is this formal legal trade you know whatever. that on the opposite side of the spectrum is the black train the the illicit trade the reality is that the vast vast majority of these transactions either for aircraft carriers or jet fighters all be there for handguns and semiautomatic weapons take place somewhere in the middle in what i describe as the shadow world in the gray market where there is bribery and corruption and this includes by governments including the

governments of the main weapons producing countries of the world it also includes executives of the main weapons producing companies because bribes don't only flow in one direction they also flow back to the executives of the countries play paying the bribes so in the work that i've done over seventeen years i could literally count on one hand the number of armament transactions that do not involve and limit of illegality the problem then becomes that most of these transactions and most of the people who operate in this shadow world which include some of them a senior politicians and government ministers some of them most senior military leaders and of course the weapons making companies the vast vast majority of them act in the street with a degree of illegal impunity and this is the first reflected in the reality

that we recorded and this was going back all the way to the end of twenty eleven point a final point tell us how the n.r.a. influences international efforts to try and regulate and control the global trade in arms. so what the n.r.a. does very effectively the n.r.a. is actually quite a small organization but it is it incredibly christie lend not only to the manufacturers of handguns and smaller like weapons but also to the be in much of the global weapons industry so the lockheed martin's the northrop grumman is the be a systems it is for these sorts of groups and it gets most of its money so what it does in the work that it does in the united states of america which is to create a particularly conducive environment to america later the environment for the sale of weaponry the end the n.r.a. together with these companies then try and spread that message throughout the world so the message is not just about the issue of unregulated got own ship being very

closely linked to issues of freedom and liberty but also the need for an environment of militarism where military force is the preferred way to resolve conflicts and we see that manifest in all over the world so for instance with a lurch to the far populist right that we have seen in brazil over the last few days part of the agenda of that far right movement in brazil is the deregulation of gun ownership in a society that has problems of gangsterism that has problems of armed criminals so the n.r.a. is affectively spreading the american message of liberty and militarism though that under feinstein thanks so much for your thoughts thank you very much. still to come on counting the cost is the only country in the world to measure success not

through g.d.p. but through gross national happiness what does that mean i mean barker in the mountain kingdom of bhutan join me later in the program. but first staff at google offices around the world staged walkouts this week they're protesting the internet companies lenient treatment of executives accused of sexual misconduct rob reynolds reports. in cities around the world employees of google walked off their jobs in protest over the company's policies and practices and workplace sexual misconduct from its headquarters in silicon valley to new york washington and boston employees streamed out denouncing corporate culture they say tolerate around spaced letting accused executives quietly walk away with buckets full of cash is standard and it really should not be the employees were angered by

a new year.